Mumbai, July 12
Mahendra Mahajan, a 46-year-old dentist from Maharashtra’s Nashik city, walked over 430 km between Leh and Manali in Himachal Pradesh’s Ladakh in the early hours of Tuesday.
The journey was through high mountain passes in the arid Ladakh and Lahaul Spiti regions of the Himalayas and Mahajan is also trying to get it recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the fastest.
“I spent 18 hours a day walking, jogging or running and covered a maximum distance of 96 km in a day,” Mahajan told PTI over phone from Manali late Tuesday evening.
With a team of three people in the car, Mahajan – a veteran of endurance sports across all disciplines – relied on local fruits, salty dried fruits, nutritional supplements and locally sourced food.
He got used to carrying the Tanglangala to Leh at an altitude of about 17,600 feet, which is more than 10,000 feet, for about five days before starting the journey.
“My strategy was to camp less just before a pass and climb early in the day,” Mahajan said, adding that the weather elements changed over the course of four days, 21 hours and 18 minutes of road time for the journey.
The conditions near Leh were very hot during the day, forcing him to use wet towels, while the very next afternoon he encountered rain and cold wind over the greater plains before Pang.
Usually, he starts early in the morning and ends the day around 9 in the evening, with the only exception being the last day, where he continued into the early hours to achieve the feat in less than five days. Takes. Clock Time.
Mahajan, who won his category in the Race Across America with his elder brother Hitendra, holds the record for the fastest cycle ride from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and has climbed Mount Everest in the past by cycling from Mumbai to Base Camp. Shared some data from Adventure.
He walked 4.75 lakh steps, burned over 28,000 calories and achieved an overall height of 18,147 to reach the goal.
His team of Sumeet Parange, nephew Om and Nitin Wankhede accompanied him or arranged hot food for Mahajan.
“Sometimes, it used to get boring and motivating level according to various factors,” said Mahajan, who used to pick up large chunks of rocks lying on the road, which sees a lot of motorized movement these days.
Locals, army personnel and cyclists cheered him along the entire route, Mahajan said, adding that it was not difficult to get permission to travel except through the Atal Tunnel near Manali, for which he needed clearance. And wasted some time.
Sufia Khan of Haryana also did the same journey a few years ago on foot from Manali to Leh in six days. But, she did so when there was no Atal Tunnel, and climbed the formidable Rohtang Pass to make it in a 480 km journey.